Whip finishers



Aug. 11, 1959 R. M. LINT 2,899,226

WHIP FINISHERS Filed Nov. 25, use

INVENTOR.

' Robert' M Lint M/K4444 ATTORNEY WHIP FINISHERS Robert M. Lint, Hillsdale, Mich., assign'or to Herters, Inc., a corporation :of Minnesota Application November 23, 1956, Serial No. 624,003

2 Claims. (Cl. 289- 17) The present invention relates broadly to the art of artificial fishing fly tying and, more particularly, to a hand tool for tying a whip finish knot.

It is well known in the art of artificial fly tying that the best method to tie off the fly head is by means of the whip finish knot. This type of knot prevents the formed heads from unravelling and presents a very neat and finished appearance.

The best and fastest method of tying this knot is through the use of a whip finisher tool, an improved version of which is the subject matter of this invention.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a whip finish tool having a novel revolving head that greatly facilitates the forming of artificial fly heads by forming the artificial fly head more easily and quickly than with the conventional tool in which the head and handle member comprise a solid integral unit.

A further object of this invention is to provide a whip finisher tool that is particularly well adapted to tying of artificial fly head's wherein the revolving head accomplishes this delicate operation with greater ease and speed than is possible with the conventional tool handle and head members.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a whip finisher tool which can be firmly held by the fly tyer and at the same time regulate the tension of the thread being used to tie the whip finish knot.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a whip finish tool wherein it is not necessary to rotate the entire tool in the fly tyers head and thereby impart tension to the thread being carried by said tool, thus making it possible to tie such knots more accurately by maintaining a more constant and accurate control over said thread tension.

These and other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the whip finisher, partly in section, showing the means for mounting the head member in a handle;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the head member;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view showing means in the handle for controlling rotation of the head member mounted therein; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the structure shown and described in Fig. 3.

The numeral 5 indicates the head of the tool which is in the form of a relatively long shank which is bent at its outer end portion at right angles to the axis of the shank, thus forming a short L-shaped extension 6 in said outer end portion of the shank 5. This extension 6 is flattened transversely by stamping the parent metal of the shank 5, and an open eye '7 is formed therein at its extreme outer end portion to aiford a hook which engages the tying thread that is used to form the artificial fly head. It is important to note that when the tool is produced for standard right hand operation, the eye 7 which forms the Patent 0 2,899,226 Patented Aug. 11, 1959 hook opens to the right as viewed from the rear with the L-shaped extension upright wherein the entire tool is longitudinally disposed.

The shank 5 is rotatably mounted for axial movement in a handle member 8 and an aperture 9 is formed through one side adjacent the open end portion of the handle 8 to expose the inner end portion 5' of the shank comprising an elongated annular bearing, mounted in the handle 8, thus affording means whereby the thumb of the operator can regulate rotating movement of the shank 5 and thread tension, by means of thumb pressure on said exposed portion of the shank 5.

Rigidly attached to the shank 5 slightly to the left of its longitudinal center located at 5', for example, is a knotter spring member 10 formed of a single piece of spring wire. This kno-tter spring comprises a number of annularly disposed convolutions ll of the spring wire material which encircle the shank 5 around its longitudinal center and is rigidly afiixed thereto by soldering or other suitable means. The terminal convolution extends laterally from the shank 5 as shown by numeral 12. The portion 12 continues in a convoluted portion 13 which extends toward the shank 5 and therebeyond, terminating in a relatively right angular hook 14 having a sharp point 15. To achieve proper spring action, it is also important to note that the spring member 10 intersects the shank 5 on the opposite sides thereof as clearly seen in Figures 1 and 2.

Operation To finish the head of an artificial fly with my novel whip finish tool, the tying thread is held in the left hand of the operator and with the tool held in the right hand of the operator, the tying thread is then engaged by the hook 14 and the thread thence engaged by the eyed hook 7 on the outer end portion of the shank 5. Thumb pressure is applied at all times on the bearing portion 5' of the shank exposed in aperture 9 formed in the handle member 8 except when the tool is being rotated. It is well to emphasize here that thumb pressure is applied to the shank 5 through the aperture 9 at all times except when the tool is being rotated. The outermost portion of the shank at the bend forming the extension 6 is placed against the fly head of the artificial fly which is being supported in a fly-tying vise, not shown, and the entire tool is rotated around said fly head. After making the desired number of turns around the head to form the same, the open eye hook 7 is disengaged from the tying thread, said thread still being engaged by the hook 14 of the knotter spring 10. With the thread disengaged from the open eye hook 7, the same is pulled in a direction rearwardly of the fly head with the operators left hand while tension of said thread is maintained by engagement of the thread with the hook 14 while the tool is being manipulated and held by the right hand of the operator. The thread is thus drawn to a point wherein the hook 14 is within approximately one-half to one-quarter of an inch of the fly head. The hook 14 is then disengaged and at the same time the thread is drawn tight, still in a direction rearwardly of the fly head to form the whip finish knot.

While there are herein disclosed but a limited number of embodiments of the structure, process and product of the invention herein presented, it is possible to produce still other embodiments without departing from the inventive concept herein disclosed, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations be imposed on the appended claims as are stated herein, or required by the prior art.

What I claim is:

1. A whip finish knotter comprising in combination a relatively long, longitudinally extended handle member, a

relatively long shank mounted at one end in the handle for axial rotation, the other end portion of said shank including a bend at right angles to the central axis of the shank and handle, and transversely flattened, an openeyedhook on the extreme outer end portion of said other end portion of the shank, and a knotter spring rigidly affixed to the shank, said knotter spring being formed of a single spring wire and extending from the shank from a convolution on the shank engaging portion of the spring, thence having at least two convolutions formed therein to increase spring tension and continuing to a point substantially spaced from the central axis of the shank and terminating in the form of a relatively flat sharp pointed hook.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, further including an axial bore in the handle to afford means for mounting the shank for axial rotation, a transversely disposed aperture in the handle having communication with the bore and the shank mounted therein to aflord means for applying manual finger pressure on the exposed shank to limit rotation thereof, and then control thread tension when the tool engages a tying thread.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,734,299 Masson Feb. 14, 1956 2,758,858 Smith Aug. 14, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 836,815 France Oct. 25, 1938 

